Life in the field for Border Patrol Agents is often lonely work, as police officers most agents patrol alone in their vehicles as they travel remote territory off the beaten path. Agent Brian Terry was different; he served as a Marine in the Middle East during wartime, loved law enforcement and was selected for the elite BORTAC (the SWAT of the) U.S. Border Patrol.
Arguably, Terry had a lot of experience under his three-year Border Patrol belt. He knew combat. He knew how to stay alive. Yet it would be a fateful night in the December desert that took his life – not a terrorist in a warzone, but a cartel smuggler/bandit in Arizona.
The 40-year old agent was planning his new life out, marriage, and perhaps one day a family of his own, but in the blink of an eye it was snatched from Terry. A week has passed since the assassination and few details are being released. No trigger man, no justice.
What there has been is plenty of Border Patrol management scrambling to cover the fact Agent Terry was armed with a weapon that shot bean bag rounds — something that was a contributing factor to his untimely murder.
Department of Homeland Security is busy covering their tracks, while Janet Napolitano, DHS secretary, levels inaccurate statements like, “the border has never been more secure and there is not an increase of drug trafficking across the border,” – and agents continue to patrol undermanned and under-armed.
Perhaps, Terry got Napolitano’s memo and decided the less lethal way to arm oneself was the best way since the coast was clear. That statement is not made in jest, someone handed out those memos and if anyone (Border Patrol Agents) on the job talks to media they will be fired.
Looking into the rearview mirror there are still no answers, waning press coverage and a funeral. And since the press isn’t getting any information from Washington D.C. or Tucson/Nogales sector stations, information must be leaked by those who are flat out angry and tired of the company line.
The following is testimony from those who are speaking out in frustration, all have Border Patrol experience and out of respect for their privacy — all will remain anonymous.
Up Front and seeing red…